Hurt Me (you do it with every look)
by RadicalRae
Summary: Oz has plenty of secrets. Here's a few: he's not from this realm. He's from the void, a place of true darkness and terror. His mother is the queen, which makes him royalty. And he's in love with Damien LaVey - and then he sees Vicky kiss him, right after she teases him about his crush on the same man.
1. Chapter 1

**Why am I writing this? Because Monster Prom is an adorable fucking game with my kind of cynical narrating and profanity laced romance. That, and I adore all the playable characters and decided to give them a little more love. (I ship no one with Scott, btw, he's just too pure and a good boy for this bunch of psychotic, murderous, gambling, arson-loving maniacs) I love everyone who reads this (and also those that are regular fans of mine y'all are lil rays of goddamn sunshine)**

 **ONWARDS! TO DEATH! Or, uh, high school drama? Same thing.**

* * *

Oz "Yellow" Darkling knew a few things. He knew most people thought he was mute - he wasn't, just for the record - he knew everyone outside of three monsters thought he was lame and underwhelming - he was actually a bit too brash and reckless for his three friends to keep up with - and most people didn't know he was, actually, royalty. He never really mentioned his mother being the queen of the void, it just wasn't a natural thing to talk about. He didn't hesitate to use it to get out of detention, though. It was how Vicky and Amiri knew about his status.

Luckily, it was easy to bribe the franken-girl into silence with a high-powered car battery and the promise of a trip to an electric chair. She...was far too into it, if he was to be honest. Amiri didn't actually care, but promised to be quiet if Oz introduced her to his royal family. They loved her, though he wasn't shocked in the least.

Also, no one seemed to have a full grasp on whatever the fuck he was. Oz knew, of course. His mother always mentioned they were the kin of great eldritch creatures; they had no name, but feasted upon fear and were born from despair and pain - almost always, one parent would die whenever one was born.

Oz ate his father upon birth. His sister did the same to her father, too.

But right now, he wasn't comfortably at home sipping wine while playing chess with his glorified nanny - he was at school. Learning about history that didn't belong to him or his species. Hell, most monsters didn't even know shadow beings existed, not until his mother had sent Oz here for "a more diverse education" as she had bullshitted before shooing her oldest son out of the room. He hadn't complained too much. His baby sister was a handful, and he was grateful to be away from her during the years of puberty. He still missed the brat, though.

"Oz, hey, pass that to Liam, will you? My phone died. Like me." The shadow being was startled from his thoughts as Brian, one of his only three friends, prodded for his attention. The zombie was holding out a folded piece of paper to him, looking oddly like the scented stationary a certain vampire had gifted to him. Oz flicked blank eyes towards said vampire, who was glaring rather worriyingly at his phone.

 _"Sure."_ Was muttered softly as he took the paper, sending a long shadowy hand to give the stupidly fancy note to Liam. Immediately afterwards, his gaze was caught by something much more interesting than the undead romance in front of him; Damien, pyromaniac sex machine of the entire goddamn Midgardian plane, holding a lighter and giving some poor sucker's homework a thoughtful, scarily intense look. As calmly as possible, Oz kicked the back of the devil's seat, getting a scathing death stare in return.

" _WHAT_ the _FUCK_ do you want, shadow bitch?" Wow, uncalled for. Oz only rolled his blank eyes, causing the little blobs of shadows on his shoulders to do the same. He simply gestured at the lighter still in Damien's hand, arching an eyebrow for good measure.

"Are you telling me _not_ to set something on fire!? What the _fuck_ is your _problem!?_ " The red devil was, without a doubt, pissed off at something that wasn't Oz - he only knew this because he rarely spoke to the prince of hell, if only to save himself from being burnt to a crisp. Unless being ignored was what was pissing Damien off? Once again, he tilted his head, putting his hands up in politely tactical surrender before pointing over at the teacher's very flammable desk. Damien seemed to get the idea, as he produced a small gas can from his backpack and stalked to the front of the class.

Oz heard a maniacal giggle, glancing over his thin shoulder to see Vicky and Amiri making kissy faces at him.

 _"Fuck off."_ Was all he shot at them, quiet enough to avoid another monster hearing, but with a lot of passion for such a polite and well-mannered blob of fear-induced darkness.

Sure, he liked Damien enough to give him arson based ideas. So what? He wasn't about to break his rumor of being mute and lame by actually speaking a sentence to the guy. He was sure Damien was way more into Vicky, anyway, the girl was fucking crazier than Polly on Cocaine and bath salts. Suddenly, he felt heat flare up from the direction of the teacher's desk and turned around, finding a fire already raging and students fleeing the classroom. On his way out, he spotted Brian bravely carrying a heavily blushing Liam to safety...or to an empty classroom far away from the fire. Presumably to do what every high school student did instead of go to class; fuck each other - or, y'know, play video games while camped out in some nook in the school.

Good lord and Void above he was skipping his next class and hiding in the bathroom either way.

On his way there, he ran into Vicky, Vera, and Damien. All of them looked completely unharmed from the fire, which wasn't shocking in the least, but the red devil still seemed rather angry. Vicky had a hold of his arms, attempting to pry his worries out of him.

Jealousy wormed its way into Oz's stomach, as did regret at not making a move sooner, as right before he came into earshot he saw the stitched up girl laugh, let go of Damien, and kiss the bad boy's cheek. His chest hurt, and his eyes burned and watered up with ghoulish tears. Oz caught the burning gaze of the demon as he looked up - but the shadow being veered off towards the library, chest aching like someone had taken a jackhammer to his poor pitch black heart. There was no point. Any chance he had was gone, gone with Vicky's stupid boldness and her ability to win everyone over.

Fuck them, then. He didn't need this bull anyway.

Oz still called his sister and cried to her about it; he had really liked Damien, alright? And Vicky knew that, that bitch! In a moment of rare violence, he lashed out at the first thing to come into contact with him. Unfortunately, that something was Scott. The werewolf's screams were rather loud, having been attacked by a crying, horrifying monster with multiple eyes and mouths and a hatred for sports - Oz quickly dropped back into his tiny cardigan wearing self, apologizing to Scott in a small, tinny voice.

"I-Its alright, Oz. No harm done, right?" Scott smiled in an uneasy manner, only making Oz feel worse about the entire day. With a frown sinking into his face, he turned to go hide somewhere, like maybe with the coven or in the rafters with the bats. He was stopped by Scott's hands on his shoulders, which was followed by tiny protests from his shadow sprites.

"Hey, bro, are you good? You seem really sad. I don't what made you sad, but I'll do everything to get you not sad right now!" Oz couldn't help but smile, even if it felt half assed and he was once again on the verge of sobbing like a widowed banshee.

 _"I'm fine, Scott. Thank you."_ He was mumbling, shaking a little with anger when he thought about the scene from just a few minutes ago, but he found himself less angry and more... **disappointed**. Maybe that was a sign that he'd be ok? He gave Scott a bigger, brighter smile. _"I mean, I'll be ok, I think. Go be a good boy to someone else, Scott."_

The werewolf was more than content with that and bounded off, leaving Oz to stand in the empty hallway all by himself. He knew he said he'd be ok, but as soon as the only sound was his own harsh breathing, he sank to the floor and let the tears slip, and this time, no one came to bother him.

All his friends were busy with their lovers anyway - oh how he grew wrathful when he thought of Vicky smothering Damien with affection, or Damien even holding the franken-girl's hand and giving her little kisses and sweet nothings and things on fire like he'd daydreamed about getting. Fuck everything, he just wanted to go home; he called his sister again, once again getting her surprisingly endearing voicemail. He left her a message about visiting home for a week, and that he needed to talk to her and their mother soon.

Now he just needed to survive watching Vicky date his crush for the next two or three days before he got to go home where the worst thing he would deal with would be princely duties and possible war and having slumber parties with his sister and her friends. What could go wrong?

* * *

A lot of things could go wrong, apparently. He'd run into Damien twice and Vicky just kept popping up wherever he went. Oz was getting sick of it, but he had been raised with manners - and a taste for slightly seared flesh seasoned with fear - so he said nothing and continued avoiding them. He had just managed to sneak off into the bathroom without seeing either one of them when he turned and nearly ran right into Vera. The snake headed queen of crime had her hands on her hips and a particularly nasty scowl on her face.

All hopes for a quiet session of skipping class withered and died right there. Sighing inwardly, Oz raised his hands in surrender, wondering what the self proclaimed businesswoman had in store for him.

"Vicky told me you're not yourself today. I don't care, but she does and I care about what she cares about, so what's your deal, loser?" Vera spoke fast, but with a cutting edge in her voice that told him she wanted the full, complete, pathetic story of how he had been so terribly betrayed by one of his friends because he'd been a coward and hadn't asked Damien out like he had wanted to and she had beaten him to it.

Of course, he wanted nothing to do with them anymore, so he just...shrugged and made a vague gesture of being moody. This, of course, was not good enough.

"Look, you can even lie and tell me some stupid bullshit and I'll be fine with it. I don't care enough to check your facts." Alright, well, he could work with that, right? He didn't even have to mention it was Vicky herself who had upset him, right? That might make Vera more pissed than usual, and all her snakes were hissing at this point. He wasn't about to make that worse.

 _"I...it's rather dumb."_ By the widened eyes and the sudden shock on her face, Oz had to guess that Vera had never heard him speak before. He'd been told his voice was the equivalent of pure terror and dread sliding down your spine. _"Someone knew I had a crush on this other person, but the other day I...I saw them kiss my crush and now they're acting like there's nothing wrong with stomping on my heart and shredding it into tiny pieces and they won't leave me alone to wallow in self pity."_

It was dead silent. Vera opened her mouth, then shut it. She seemed to be thinking of something, and it wasn't about money or her illegal murder app this time. Oz wasn't sure he liked that thoughtful look on her face. After a minute, she waved dismissively at him; the shadow being was all too happy to sprint out of the bathrooms, this time choosing to hide in the library, away from everyone else.

At lunch, Oz tried not to look at Vicky sitting with Damien and Vera, but ended up catching the gorgon's gaze anyway - he didn't stay staring at her, but gave her a nervous smile anyway before he slunk off to sit with Liam, Brian and Amiri. Only Amiri seemed to have caught on to _why_ Oz was poking apart his lovingly homemade food, but Brian and Liam both seemed to just know how foul his mood was; the vampire sidled up to him and Brian set his chocolate pudding on Oz's plate like a peace offering. He got lost in the conversation about Instagram followers and the perfect food picture - he let Liam use his food, because honestly, he wasn't using it for the intended purpose.

Oz had even forgotten about the blatant betrayal, until, of course, Amiri brought it up as soon as Liam and Brian ran off to make out in some corner of the cafeteria. The shadow being buried his face in his hands, his chest aching all over again, before he dared look behind him. Damien wasn't at the table anymore, but Vera and Vicky appeared to be having a very serious discussion. Was it about what he had told Vera about? A part of him hoped not. Another, far more vengeful side hoped that it was, and further prayed that Vicky knew she was the one who had hurt him so badly.

"Never thought I'd want to stab one of my own friends. She knew you liked him." He barely heard her hissed words, but nodded and heaved a loud sigh in agreement. The hot-headed teenager continued, blowing smoke out between her teeth. "I mean, who even does that? It's the hoe code, y'know? You don't fuck what your friend crushes on, it's like, the second rule in the friendship handbook."

 _"What's the first rule?"_ He couldn't help but ask.

"Always share your weed." Of course. How silly of him to even think any different. "The third rule is always having their backs...if you wanna fight her, I'll follow the that rule for ya. I'm ready for a smack down."

Despite feeling enlightened by this teaching of the "hoe code" Oz gently turned down the offer of a fighting partner. He still cared for Vicky, he just also wanted her to walk into a pit of ravenous vipers, that's all. He heard footsteps, and heard Vicky's voice from behind him - as well as the usual profanity from Damien and Vera - but he ignored it in favor of informing Amiri of his decision. He didn't want to leave her in the dark.

 _"It doesn't matter. I'm going home Friday, and I'm not sure I'll be coming back."_ He said it loud enough for others to hear him, loud enough that the growl of despair and the whine of agony was clear in his tone, that the tune of eldritch music in his head bound to his words and made them echo. In the resounding silence and fear - which was delicious, thanks - Oz simply packed up his uneaten lunch and stalked out of the lunchroom.

At least that put an end to the rumor of his being mute.

* * *

Over the next two days, Brian and Amiri tried to convince him to come back after his vacation, giving him all sorts of actually good reasons not to go back to being homeschooled. Even Liam and Polly attempted to get him into promising his safe return; Polly's suggestive "toilet wine" and drug parties wasn't really that great of a reason, but having Liam tell him that by then any talk of him would be gone was...comforting. He could only guarantee an answer by the end of his vacation. He'd had least come back to empty his locker, so they'd get their answer then.

Vicky was flat out ignoring him, Vera scoffed at his back whenever he passed her, and he hadn't seen horn nor tail of Damien since he had announced he was considering leaving the school. That was fine by him. On Friday, though, he was starting to regret being so rude in the first place. He'd be gone for a whole week, maybe longer, and he had yet to say his goodbyes to Vicky, who had been his friend since he came here. He wanted to say farewell to her. And a few other things, too, for good measure.

It wasn't hard finding her, Oz just had to go to her locker at the end of Gym and wait there. The franken-girl was with Vera, as usual, grinning ear-to-ear; until she saw him leaning besides her locker. The shadow being swallowed nervously when she glared at him, and he was filled with regret and pain at having caused so much anger in his friend that it almost prompted him to burst into ghostly tears right there.

 _"Vicky, I -"_ He was cut off when she shoved him, easily able to get him to stumble back a few steps. Silence fell in the hallway, everyone staring at the two ex-friends. Even Vera had stepped back from them, and Oz could feel Brian and Amiri somewhere behind him, ready to jump in should he need their help.

Oz raised his hands, like he always did to calm someone down, and then he let his arms fall to his sides. He didn't want to fight Vicky. If she hit him, he deserved it.

 _"You can hit me, if you want to."_ Vicky became visibly startled, turning to look at Vera - and Damien, looking tired and a little under the weather, but also shocked at Oz's words. He straightened his back and continued, putting more emotion into his words to make them ring and sound like heavenly trumpets played by impish demons. _"I don't want to leave us like this. With us both angry and upset, I want to leave with you as my friend again. So you can hit me if you to. I'd deserve it, I've been acting like an ass since I found out."_

As he spoke, Vicky had started to smile, right up until the last bit.

"What do you mean? What did you find out?" Did she not know? Oz looked at Damien, then he turned to look over his shoulder at his friends. Brian was aggressively shaking his head, but Amiri gave him a thumbs up and mouthed "tell her!" silently. The shadow being gave them a curt nod and returned his attention to Vicky, but his gaze was half on Damien, on the pyromaniac he'd crushed on for most of the year.

 _"You knew I liked Damien."_ Jaws fucking dropped. He heard Brian yell in surprise, while he heard Miranda and Polly scream "I knew it!" from somewhere he couldn't see. Vicky just stood there, mouth open in surprise. Damien looked beyond furious. Oz didn't blame him. _"You knew I liked him, you knew I was chicken to ask him out because of how courtship tends to go where I'm from, and you kept hyping me up to ask him out. Y'know, I wrote up this really quaint love letter that used fire as a metaphor; I was gonna slip it into his bag, but then I saw you kiss him in the hallway. I tore it up and burned the paper. I was so upset I almost hurt someone who was completely innocent."_

Apparently, this was news. Vera looked like someone had just cut off one of her snakes, Damien was frozen, and Vicky was crying. He hated to see her cry, and took a step closer to her, hands coming up like he was going to hug her. Instead, he clutched his hands to his chest.

"Oz, it wasn't -"

 _"I'm not even mad anymore. I'm just disappointed. You hurt me and you won't even acknowledge that, you just kept trying to buddy up to me like my heart wasn't on the floor in a million pieces. It's ok though. I want...I just want to be friends with you again, you're the kindest, most fun person I've ever got to hang out with. My pain will go away, and I'd much rather see you happy than get what I want by force or make you upset by acting like a really rude person."_

Oz paused to take a deep breath, acutely aware of how many people were staring in awe at him. He looked down at the floor, feeling like he too would end up crying.

 _"I'll be going home now, ok? I'll call when I get to the void. If you no longer want to be my friend, that's ok, just don't pick up. If you do I...I still owe you and Amiri that tour of the castle."_

With that, Oz hurried away, completely ignoring Vicky calling for him. Of course, Polly easily caught up to him, as did Liam, but they only wished him a safe travel before returning to their girlfriend and boyfriend respectfully.


	2. Chapter 2

**Y'all ready to cry and want to strangle me? No? Too bad, here we go! (Oz's sister is Nani and his mother is Kyn)**

* * *

Three days into his vacation, and Oz felt a lot less stressed. Nani was amazing at being a distraction, catching him up on her bottle cap collection, her new friends, and even convincing him to help her make a big batch of cupcakes for her next slumber party. Still, even with her clamoring for his attention, he'd managed to start the road of fixing things with Vicky - they had yet to talk about what had happened, but so far all their phone calls had been rather civil, if not a bit tense.

Currently, though, the prince was alone, no phone in hand and instead just a chess board in front of him. He was playing against himself, moving the pieces after brief moments of thought. It was nice. Being by himself, he meant; no family, no friends, just him and his semi-settled mind. Back at school you'd have to fight for this sort of time alone. Here Oz just had to walk into an empty room, or sneak off into the unused side of the castle. He took out his "enemy"'s king with a knight, setting the piece down with a clack as he did so. He took a moment to ponder the game's end, before turning his head to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows the library boasted.

The never changing light of the Void was as dreary a purple-ish grey as it always was, splashed by subdued blues and oranges. Tall spires of dark ebony clawed at the gloomy sky, Void whales neatly floating around the sharp, impractical towers. A giant beetle-spider like insect strode across the dark plane of the world, many legs skittering with the sound of an entire ruined planet and the screams of lost souls.

The grand doors of the library screeched open, as if someone had opened them too fast, startling Oz out of his thoughtful gazing. He turned - to find Miranda shooing her serfs out of the room, her surprisingly sharp gaze on him and only him. Surprised to see one of his classmates in his home, Oz barely managed to stand up out of his plush chair and give the princess a small bow.

"Oh! Hello prince Oz! Who knew you were royalty, hmm?" Oz felt more than heard the mergirl's venomous tone of voice. She was smiling, no longer looking at him, but marveling at the many ancient tomes that lined the walls, as well as the somber paintings that depicted war and golden eras. "I convinced my Daddy that we needed an alliance with this dark place. Considering the size of your army and your sizeable wealth, Daddy agreed pretty fast."

 _"A little shallow of you, though not shocking, but I'm still pondering as to why you are here...talking to me, instead of the queen."_ Oz sank back into his seat, gesturing to the other lush chair when Miranda looked at him. She sat primly, smoothing out her well tailored skirt before giving him a rather...murderous stare over his chess board.

"Vera is one of my closest assets - friends, I mean. Ever since what went down, she's been in a foul mood, foul enough that she's just not coming up with enough schemes. Oh, and Vicky, it's like you've sucked all the fun out of her!" Oz felt all the pain and regret from the last week fill his chest, making his heart beat a little faster and ache a little more. Miranda started reassembling his chess pieces, setting them in the right places with nimble fingers all while she spoke. "I know I'm not...qualified for whatever will fix this, but I want you to fix it. I just cannot have my subjects so vexed by your unrequited love. It's silly, anyway, you shadow...things should just stick to your own realm and your own species."

Oz reached out in the blink of an eye, grabbing Miranda's hand in a vice grip; he was seething with anger at her blatant disrespect. He tightened his grip, ignoring her squeak of pain and instead breathing in the heavy scent of her terror.

 _"You have no sway here. We could slaughter you and your entire goddamned people and still make it to afternoon tea with time to spare."_ He let go of her, and the princess snatched her hand back and whimpered - it was a marvelous taste on the back of his tongue. _"It is not my fault that I was betrayed by Vicky. She knew I fancied Damien and yet pursued him anyway. I could've just killed her, kidnapped Damien, and forced him into marriage like many of my ancestors have done."_

He sat back, heaving a sigh so heavy his little shadow sprites brought their annoyance to attention with many blurbs of tiny voices. He just ignored them, keeping his blank gaze on the mergirl.

 _"Instead, I let both of them keep their lives and their freedom. I will not do as many before me have done; I plan on fixing what my enraged emotions caused. I am in the middle of fixing it. Please, Miranda, be patient, will you? I can supply you with whatever it is Vera can't in her time of moodiness, but you must keep out of my way."_

"Um...I-I...I'll do that. Ah, by the way, Damien hasn't set anything on fire since you left. Well, he did slip a small bomb into Liam's bag, but it didn't go off and Brian yelled at him. Oh! And Polly and Amiri are officially dating! They said they'd send out a polaroid of their first date soon, though, I'm not sure how appropriate it'll be, knowing those two." Miranda seemed to embrace the knew topic as much as Oz did, and a few hours passed discussing their friends before the princess's serfs came in to collect her to return home.

Oz opted to walk her out, just so she wouldn't be tempted to go exploring, and found his young sister trying to hide a Void snake in a closet. Amused by Nani's struggle to shut the twenty-some foot long serpent of darkness into a coat closet, Oz paused to regard Miranda. No one else - besides Amiri - had ever met his small, slightly deranged sibling. However, he found the mergirl ordering her serfs to help, going so far as to introduce herself to Nani.

The tiny princess was just excited to meet another female royalty, happily launching into her scheme of setting the angry serpent loose on a group of boys that had started teasing one of her friends. The prince was a little concerned about the end result of her scheme, but Miranda was all too encouraging of the vengeful slaughter in the name of friendship. They got along far too well, in his opinion. Oz wondered if this meant he'd see more of the mergirl around the castle. Bidding her a goodbye - and keeping a steady hand on his sister's shoulder - the shadow being decided that might not be a bad thing.

* * *

"Why do you think Damien's so moody, like Miri was saying?" Nani peered up through her shadowy bangs, trying to look innocent. Oz wasn't buying it.

 _"I have no idea, starshine. Hand me those scissors."_ He held out his hand for the mentioned scissors, only waiting a moment before his sister passed them to him. He went back to cutting the bright yellow fabric he was so focused on. Nani didn't move from his side, her hands fidgeting with a few scraps of bright cloth. He shot her a scathing look, making her drop the cloth with a pout on her childishly round face.

"Don't you wanna know? You used to gush about him every night! I thought you'd found true love!" He could practically see hearts in her eyes. Oz only rolled his eyes and attempted to tune her out. She just continued in her increasingly excited voice. "What if he really is your true love, but those mean witches cast a nasty spell on him? Oh oh! Or what if Vicky cast a spell on him to make him love her instead of you!?"

Oz slammed his hands down onto the table, causing rolls of fabric to fall of and onto the marble floor. Nani fell silent, staring at him with her wide, watering eyes.

 _"Life is not a fucking fairy tale, Nani. I don't know why Damien is being a bitch right now, nor do I care. I am more focused on repairing my friendship with Vicky. That is what is important to me, alright?"_ Nani nodded, sniffling and wiping her nose on her sleeve. Oz frowned and handed her the box of tissues from the side table, before reassuringly ruffling her soft hair. _"I wish with my entire_ _heart that Damien was my true love. It just, wasn't meant to be. That's ok, though. I'll be king soon, anyway, and who has time to romance someone when they're trying to rule a whole kingdom? Not me."_

He turned back to his fabric, and Nani leaned into his side, dropping her head onto his shoulder.

It was a comforting weight.

Suddenly, gloved hands settled on his shoulders, startling both him and Nani. The two siblings turned to find the queen, their mother, standing behind them. In her dusk-purple suit, with her whale-bone crown daintily set upon her head, Queen Kyn looked as regal and forbidding as ever. She had a soft, although tense, smile on her sharp featured face. After a solid minute of her just staring down at them, she spoke, voice resounding through the sewing room like the wreckage of a million navy ships sunken by a bloodthirsty Void monster.

 **"My children, I do hope I did not hear you two fighting just now."**

"No, mommy, Oz is just upset cuz he really likes this boy, but the boy doesn't like him back." Oz swallowed nervously, looked away from his mother and at the tuxedo he was attempting to create. The sleeves looked too short, and that orange did not go well with his favorite shade of yellow. His mother leaned against the table, delicately picking up a swath of black fabric. He pointedly did not look at her, instead picking up his sewing pattern to regard it again.

 **"And has my dear Oz asked this boy about his feelings, or has he assumed his fancy is unrequited?"**

 _"Mother, I saw him be kissed by someone else. I don't think I have to ask -"_

 **"So you saw someone else kiss him. Did he kiss them, or did he even tell you he was dating them? Has anyone confirmed this for you?"**

 _"It doesn't really matter, mother. He's a prince of hell. He has his own kingdom to run, I refuse to make him give that up for a high school romance that won't survive past graduation."_

The queen squared her shoulders, narrowing her eyes down at her prince. Her posture softened, and she bent to place a kiss upon Oz's forehead. He spluttered indignantly, rubbing the heel of his palm over the spot in faux disgust.

 **"Ah, but whoever said you must become king of the Void? Nani would make an excellent ruler, she's ruthless and just as clever as you are, my terrifying prince. You will return to school at the end of this week, and you must ask this other prince how he feels for you. You might be pleasantly surprised. Now, why don't we leave the castle for a bit and go scare the pants off of a few humans?"**

His mother's intense - and rather comforting - words brought a smile to Oz's face, the hurt he'd been carrying in his chest easing a little with the confidence that the queen exuded with every well articulated phrase and elegant breath.

Although, he wasn't sure her idea...was the best one. After all, what if Damien confirmed his fears and only hurt him more? A living shadow of horror could only take so much heartbreak before turning as cold as some of his ancestors had done after countless rejections, mistresses and cheating lovers who told lies like only the best politician could. Ugh, fuck love, honestly.

* * *

Tomorrow was the last day of his vacation. It was a bit bittersweet, if he were to be honest with himself. After the last week, he was eager to return to his friends and to dull life lessons, but at the same time, he wanted more time with his mother and his sister. He'd made them both promise to see him off when he departed, and today he roped Nani into helping him pack.

She was complaining the whole time, deliberately folding his clothes wrong and knocking his neat piles over. Oz knew it was because she was as hesitant to let him leave as he himself was about leaving. With that knowledge in mind, he only lightly scolded her for her poor folding skills and redid his neat piles without any fuss. Mother was off debating something with her council, but they had a set tea time for later in the afternoon. No doubt the topic of his love life would be brought up. Again. The queen just would not drop it, adamant that her only son see this to the end, even if it broke his heart once more.

Not that he could blame her. His mother, like all mothers, only wanted her son to be happy and horrible and terrifying and eventually bring an end to all light in existence.

Wait, no. Not all mothers wanted that. Just his did.

Oz shook his head to rid himself of such useless thoughts, turning his attention to folding his newly made tuxedo into a neat square before he wrapped it in one of his rarely used silk scarves. He didn't want his prom tux to get wrinkled. Next to him, Nani hummed to herself while she horribly folded a pair of his bright yellow shirts. She paused suddenly, setting the shirt down into a pile of equally awfully folded shirts to look at her somber brother.

"Are you really gonna do what Mommy told you to? Talk to Damien, I mean." The prince sighed, knowing he must answer or no packing would get done.

 _"I really don't know, starshine. It's not like we were buddies before, me and Damien. Honestly, I'm not sure he even knew I existed until that entire fiasco started. Either way, I'll have decided once I get there."_ Nani puffed up her cheeks, looking like she wanted to discuss it further, when they were interrupted by Oz's phone ringing. Picking it up from the stacks of clothes and books, Oz didn't recognize the number. Deciding that it was probably Miranda - she swindled his number out of Nani - or Scott, who's number he had never bothered to save.

"Answer it, you dweeb!"

Well, fuck.

 _"Hello, you're through to Oz Darkling. Who is this?"_ For a moment, there was nothing but static and the sound of someone breathing on the other end.

"Uh, fuckin' - this is Damien LaVey, bitch." Panic set in. How the fuck had Damien gotten his number and what the fuck did he want?

"Listen, I want to fucking talk to you when you get back, ok? Look, fuck, I think somewhere maybe we both...misunderstood a few things. Vicky told me to call you, anyway, and she fuckin' scares the piss outta me."

It was Oz's turn to be silent, staring at Nani in shock. His sister, for her part, had a shit eating grin on her face, like she had expected this to happen. She probably schemed about it with Miranda. He wouldn't put it past the brat.

 _"I...I believe that could be arranged. I'll be arriving shortly after noon."_

"Fuckin' metal dude. Oh, I'll bring Vicky with me, that way we can all talk it out. Well, see you tomorrow!" The call abruptly ended with a sharp click, making Oz blink in surprise before he lowered the phone. Tossing it down onto his bed, the prince sank into the nearest chair, feeling an equal amount of excitement and dread. Whatever happened tomorrow afternoon, his friendship with Vicky depended on it. Catching Nani's worried gaze, he could only give her a nervous, weary smile.

 _"I need wine."_


	3. Chapter 3

**This is actually the second part of chapter 2, but it wasn't flowing the right way so I cut it. (Which is why its so short) The reason for wanting to strangle me is in here, don't worry. :)**

* * *

Saying goodbye to his family and his home hurt. It hurt like swallowing shards of glass. Oz powered through it, embracing his sister and his mother and walking the great halls of where he grew up before finally slipping out and leaving. The ride back to his school-issued apartment was silent, neither him nor the driver speaking. Stepping back into his apartment was like walking into a world that would never be his, but merely borrowed for a short time. The carpets were the same light beige, the tapestries still hung on his walls, his line of cacti and succulents still sitting in a neat row on his windowsill. Everything felt different, cast in a different light. It made him ache for the purple lights of the void.

The shadow being sighed, dropping his bags wherever he was standing, before going into the kitchen. Still pristine and organized, as he had left it. There was still a picture of him, Brian, Amiri and Vicky. Oz laid it flat on the counter, not wanting to look at his friends' faces and be reminded of what had happened. The microwave clock stated that he was home about an hour earlier than he'd planned - which was fine. The extra time was used taking a shower and changing out of his royal clothes and into a soft yellow, knitted sweater and a pair of his usual black pants and black shoes. It felt nice, to be back in the clothes he found comfortable. Royal clothes had always felt too heavy for him, had too many straps and button and things that just didn't make sense.

After checking on his plants and giving them a bit of water and plant food, Oz found his school bag and his books. He knew it was still too early, that he had promised to be there in the afternoon and not eleven in the morning, but he was eager to get back. Surprisingly, he wanted to go back to dull classes and games of dodgeball and horrible events that ended in fires and explosions and sometimes cults. It was probably a bad idea.

Still, he wanted to go. Wanted to see his friends before he had to deal with Damien and Vicky. Straitening his back, Oz ran his hands through the smoky tendrils of his hair, picked up his school bag and left to catch the bus to school.

Fuck letting his mother-approved driver take him to school in the void powered limo.

* * *

Sneaking into class an hour late was, not so shockingly, very easy. Polly was making a fuss at the front of the class, giving Oz a chance to slide into an empty seat next to Brian. Luckily, neither Damien or Vicky or Vera was in the classroom. He didn't bother taking notes, instead getting Brian's and Amiri's attention by shooting rubber bands at them. They spent the last twenty minutes catching up and chatting about Oz's family. It felt good. It was better when Liam and Polly realized he'd snuck in without either undead being noticing him.

Hands in his pockets, bag slung over his shoulder, he had an easy smile, the result of listening in on Brian and Liam's far too mushy conversation. A part of him was jealous, desperately wanting to have that with someone else - he still hurt over what Damien and Vicky had done to him, even if he tried telling himself he couldn't blame them for his own cowardice. Although, noon was fast approaching. He shouldn't chicken out, but goddamn he wanted to so badly. He wanted to run the other way and pretend he had never met either one of them. That he hadn't secretly been in love with Damien the moment he had met the hot-headed pyromaniac while hiding out in the bathrooms.

He heard Vera's voice and the usual sound of her stilettos and looked up. He regretted it. Just a few paces ahead of him was Vera, Damien and Vicky, huddled shoulder-to-shoulder in what appeared to be a very intimate conversation. The red demon had his arms around both girls', and Oz could see from his viewpoint that his ex-friend had her hand on Damien's back. It looked affectionate. It made his blood boil in the way treason against his mother did. Perhaps it was the similar feeling of betrayal. Perhaps it was how personal it was, how it felt like being stabbed in the back repeatedly.

Oz sighed, rubbing at his eyes, feeling too thin and too see-through; he veered off down some hallway, letting his nimble feet take him into an empty classroom. He felt like breaking down. In this dusty, prehistoric looking room with the ancient computers and yellowed textbooks, no one would bother him. He was free to fall to the floor and wail.

Which he did. Dropping his bag and sliding to the floor, the Void prince tried to muffle his sobs with his hands, thin shoulders shaking with the effort. His friends would wonder where he went, probably. He wasn't expecting them to go after him, even Liam knew he was better left alone while upset. And right now, he was beyond upset. He was furious. He was full of absolute rage and a thirst for a beheading.

Another thing he didn't expect? Damien himself walking into the room. Blessedly alone, no Vicky or Vera in sight, but just having his object of affection in the same room with him while he was crying on the ground - it fucking hurt. The two stared at each other, Oz still with ghoulish tears spilling down his face, and Damien with the most shocked face he'd seen on him. Oz? Oz was angry. He was fucking pissed and wanted someone to pay for his own emotions. Unfortunately, the only person in sight was Damien.

Oz slowly stood up, ignoring whatever Damien was saying, the sound of his own heart beating the only thing he could hear. The surface of his face, the clear space below his nose creased, then ripped as he opened a sharp tooth-filled mouth. The lights above them shattered, the windows cracked and dusty desks were sent flying into the walls, breaking and sending shards of metal and wood all over. The part of him that hated this saw a scared shitless, oddly aroused Damien, and hated himself more for it.

 _"Get the **FUCK OUT OF HERE!** "_ Distantly, he recognized the terrifying, demonic tone of voice his mother used when he was in trouble, now screamed by him in a fit of rage and heartbreak. More lights shattered, sending them into a hazy, tense gloom that perfectly fit the turmoil of stupid emotions whirling within his head. He grabbed the nearest object in arms length - a damn school chair - and threw it towards Damien at an alarming speed, the red demon screaming and dodging the object. Oz grabbed something else, screaming again for the other teenager to just fucking leave, and Damien turned and bolted out the door like Oz had thrown more than just a simple chair at him.

The shadow being stood there, chest heaving and hands shaking, slowly closing his eldritch-worthy mouth. Slowly, so slowly, he slid back to the floor and started sobbing harder than before. He was breaking. Bit by bit, piece by piece, he was breaking apart with every single day. He regretted coming back. He should've stayed in the void.

 _"I don't belong here."_ He sniffled, wiping his face with his sleeve, hiccupping out another sob. He looked down at the little blobs of darkness worriedly staring up at him. _"I never did."_


	4. Chapter 4

**What's up I'm back with more of that good shit. Had to take some mental health days but I'm back and ok-ish. Got a new art blog as well, Inking-Insanity, where I'll be posting some Monster Prom works and a few other fandom and original stuff.**

 **Lots of dialogue in this one, please hang on for the ending though cuz this will be the last chapter. :)**

* * *

Oz skipped his meeting with Vicky and Damien. He just couldn't face them and watch them be happy and listen to them talk about their relationship. He went through the entire day avoiding them, ditching class when he had to and ducking into empty rooms and veering into hallways just to get away. It wasn't the best way about things. Come drama class, Oz slipped in early, checked in with the teacher and went to hide in the catwalk. It wasn't like Kuron even cared. The eldritch abomination of a man never seemed to care too much.

Halfway through class and the shadow being was leaning over the railing of the catwalk, watching his friends run around the stage in stupid costumes. Brian's was probably the worst. Oz couldn't help but stifle a laugh every time the poor zombie tripped over his poorly made dinosaur suit. Damien was in this class, too, but he had yet to see the red demon. Perhaps he was skipping with Vicky? He sighed, dropping his chin down on top of his hands. Why couldn't he have acted sooner and gotten the person he had wanted?

"Greetings my love!" OH, fuck, this was not the person he wanted. The Interdimensional Prince was suddenly standing right behind him, though minus that bright white suit - the pink sweater with the UFOs all over it suited him, oddly enough. The prince stopped, however, looking at Oz with an almost knowing look. "Ah, what seems to be the problem, my dear?"

"It doesn't matter. Can't do anything about it unless I want to hurt my friend."

"A matter of love, then?" The prince had such a soft voice, speaking gently all of a sudden. Oz glanced at him - the blue haired man wasn't even looking at him, looking over the theatre and at Kuron. The four armed man was seated in his director's chair, ignoring a ranting Vera and on his phone.

"...I guess. Do you, um, know Mr. Kuron?"

"Oh, yeah, he's my lover."

"Wait...then why do you flirt with high schoolers?"

"It makes him jealous and fly into a rage, and if he's angry he'll get all snarly and murderous and its kinda hot." The prince actually laughed, keeping himself quiet, as if he too didn't want to be found. "Besides that, I realized that I don't really care what happens to my kingdom if one of my siblings gets the throne. It's Oz, right?"

Oz took a moment to reply, blank eyes narrowed in doubt at the prince.

"Yeah...I mean, yes, my name is Oz."

"Prince of the Void, right? Sorry, I only know what Kuron's told me."

"Next in line for the throne. I thought you were, too. Are you?"

"Nah, I'm actually the youngest, but my parents decided instead of giving it to the oldest it was decided whoever could get married first would be king."

"I'm guessing you don't like your siblings?"

"Oh, no, they're all brutes who want to wipe out all life in every other realm. I've tried telling them most other kingdoms are stronger, but..." He shrugged, turning to Oz with a smile. He didn't seem too bothered by this. Dear Void, he was way too fucking optimistic about everything. "I'm Praeria, by the way. So, which one are you in love with?"

Ok, so maybe the prince wasn't as bad as he used to think. Though, purposely making your boyfriend pissed off just because it was hot - that was a little problematic. Then again, he thought Damien was sexy when he lit things on fire.

"He's not actually here. I think he's skipping class."

"...the red one? Or would it be the ghost? I don't see either one."

"The red one. Er, I mean, his name is Damien. I've been crushing on him since I transferred here, and my friend knew that..."

"Let me guess, she's making moves on your man?"

"No!" Oz flinched, knowing he was a little too loud - Brian had glanced up towards the catwalk, as had Liam. Oz forced the lights to dim, not wanting them to see him having a somewhat civil conversation with the much hated Interdimensional Prince. "I mean, yes, but she got him. He likes her, not me. I want to hate her for it, but she's my friend, y'know? She was the first person to welcome me here. I could never hate her."

Praeria sighed, fiddling with the sleeves of his UFO sweater. The shadow being wasn't sure if the look on his face was understanding or if he thought the whole situation was stupid and childish. He certainly thought it was.

"Well, in the past, if you told a bad joke, how does he react?"

"I'm not the type to tell jokes. But he always laughed when I didn't catch myself and I'd sass someone or be sarcastic."

"Mmhm. And whenever you've gotten hurt, what does he do?"

"Freak out, scream at whatever hurt me, he once carried me to the nurse after Polly mixed some chemicals and caused an explosion. He stayed, too, even after the nurse threatened to eat him if he didn't return to class."

"Mmhm. Is he willing to share food and clothes with you?"

"Yes, we both like spicy food and share all the time, and actually I still have his jacket in my apartment, I should return that."

"Ok, and does he get you stuff without you asking him to?"

"Well, he once got me chocolate that's made with ghost peppers, and sometimes he buys me lunch. He got me stuff for my plants once, too."

"Mmhm. On the bus or in a car or when all your friends are going to dinner, who does he want to sit next to?"

"Me, but that -"

"My dear, has he ever done these things for the friend you think he's dating?"

"Not that I've ever seen, but I know they've been friends longer than I've known them. I can't compete with pretty much growing up with someone like Vicky and Damien have."

"Alright, has anyone confirmed that they're dating? And I mean they've announced their courtship or said yes to a direct question about it."

"...no...but that doesn't matter, I've _seen_ them together and even my other friends say that they're together."

"It _does_ matter, love." The prince tossed his hair out of his face, dark eyes gleaming; it reminded Oz of a prowling Void cat. "I think, and I admit I'm not the best when it comes to this sort of thing, but you should talk to him, ask him how he feels about you. At the very worst, he confirms he and this girl are dating, and at best they're not and he does care for you."

"I...I don't think I could do it. I think I'd be too scared to hear him tell me that Vicky's his girl. That he chose her. That I'm just the obsessed gay friend."

"Hey, would you rather avoid him for the rest of your high school career?"

"How do you go from being an annoying spouse hunting idiot to a guy full of love advice?"

"It's common sense, love. And I've been at Kuron's place binge watching cheesy romance movies for the last three days, I've got knowledge to impart on hopeless romantics like you."

Oz turned away from the prince, looking down to see Damien finally enter the theater. The demon seemed upset by something, pulling Vera to the side and talking to her with fast and violent arm movements and gestures. He wondered what was going on. Even Vera looked scared, her snakes shaking and hissing as she and the prince of hell spoke. As he and Praerie watched, Brian and Liam stepped into the conversation, making Damien shut up and listen to something. He looked almost thoughtful as the undead couple seemed to explain something to him.

"Maybe not right now...but you know you have to talk to him, clear this mess up. Anyway, this class is almost over, and me and Kuron have a date." The blue haired man straightened up, suddenly embracing Oz in a surprisingly warm, gentle hug that reminded him of his mother comforting him when he was little. Was it wrong to compare a possibly masochistic prince to his terrifying mother and queen? It probably was, but Praeria smelt wonderful and his sweater was soft and Oz had needed a hug anyway.

"Thanks, Praeria." His words were muffled in the prince's shoulder, but at least no one would see him cry with his face buried in pink wool. "I'm gonna talk to him."

"Good for you, love, I'll be rooting for you. I'll be seeing you later, hopefully a little more happy and a lot less weepy. Take care, my love." With a wink the Interdimensional Prince fell back through a portal, leaving Oz alone on the catwalk. Without the bubbly personality hyping him up, the shadow being was a bit more...pessimistic. Well, he did say he was going to do it.

A king should always keep his word, that's what his mother always said. Fuck, he hated being an honest royal who kept promises.

* * *

After school, Oz marched to Damien's car, ignoring when Amiri called out to him. Damien was leaning against his car, furiously texting someone, jabbing at his phone so hard he might break it. For a moment, he felt like turning back, and then he caught sight of his drama teacher walking across the parking lot, Praeria by his side. The prince glanced back at him, giving him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. Oz nodded and continued, stopping only when he was right in front of Damien.

"We need to talk."

Damien jolted, obviously startled, staring at Oz with a worried, wary look.

"Uh, well, damn, ok? Why don't we do that in the car, to have some privacy?" No profanity. It was odd, and Oz narrowed his eyes at the demon, but nodded and got into the car, careful not to slam the door. He watched Damien get in, watched him fiddle with his keys before he started the engine. "You remember that diner with the spicy beef soup we like? I'll buy you dinner because I've been an ass lately."

"I'm the one who's been ripping everything to shreds. Um, I'm sorry I yelled at you, earlier."

"No, no...its ok. I saw you duck into that classroom and I knew you were upset. It was my own fucking fault I got screamed at. You needed your space, anyway, and I should've done more to give that to you and not been so fucking vague about what was going on." The prince of hell didn't look at Oz once while he was driving, hands clenched around the steering wheel so hard Oz feared he'd break it.

"I still didn't have to react like I had. I feel terrible about it, and honestly I don't blame you if you want to yell at me in return."

"I want to yell at you. You're a stupid shadowy bitch and everything you do pisses me off."

Oh god. Oz swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut and trying not to cry. Not in front of Damien. Not in his fucking car. Damien still hadn't looked at him, pulling into the crowded parking lot of the old diner. Had this place ever been this busy? They parked in silence, got out in silence, and were almost to the doors before Damien stopped him.

"You know, you piss me off, all the fucking time. Whenever I see you happy, when you sass me and joke with your friends."

"You hate me."

"That's not what I fucking mean."

"What is that supposed to mean then!?"

"It means I like your stupid face!"

"What? But...you and Vicky...I thought...everyone else said...What?"

"I figured. Vicky was helping me with something, she was just being a good friend. She's actually dating Vera." Damien started up the metal stairs of the diner, pulling Oz with him when the shadow being didn't move.

"What was she helping you with? Why couldn't you just tell me what was going on? Why did you keep me in the fucking dark!?"

"Because..." They went through the doors, there was the loud sound of confetti popping out of confetti cannons and a lot of shouting - and right there, hanging from the ceiling was a banner with the words _Will you light Prom on fire with me?_ written in what looked like blood on it. "I was trying to figure out how to ask you out. I was going to wait to ask you to Prom and then this whole fucking mess happened. I'm sorry - "

"You're such an ass!" Oz cried out, smacking Damien's arm, though he hadn't aimed to actually hurt the demon. "You could've said something a lot sooner! Fuck, you could've asked me to go out with you weeks ago and kept this from being a whole mess! I'd say yes! I'd still say yes!"

"I'm sorry. I...I don't have an excuse. I hurt you and I need to fix that. If you still want to go with me..."

"Of course I do. God, I can't believe Praeria was right!"

"Wait - who?"

"The Interdimensional Prince? His name is Praeria. He's the one who talked me into confronting you about everything. And he was right, you do like me. God, I'm so fucking stupid, it was right in front of me the whole time."

Damien laughed, circling an arm around Oz's waist, making a warm fuzzy feeling bloom in his chest. He was pretty sure it was more because of the hand on his ass rather than finally getting the local sexy pyromaniac to ask him out.

He'd have to ask Kuron to thank his boyfriend for him later.

"So, that's a _yes_ , right?" Oz laughed, leaning up to kiss Damien; he tasted just as he imagined, like smoke and salt and sulfur. This was so much better than any daydream he'd ever had, Damien real and sturdy and warm and willing beneath his hands and lips rough and chapped against his own.

"It's a **_fuck_ _yes_**."


End file.
